Money operated amusement devices, such as game machines and jukeboxes, typically operate upon input of currency (i.e., coin, token, paper money, credit/debit cards and the like) and are installed in bars, restaurants, airports, shopping malls, video arcades and the like. For game machines, the game choices may include card games, sports games, games of skill, games of chance, action games, trivia games and the like. For jukeboxes, a plurality of songs are generally available for selection and play. Recently, jukeboxes have become computerized, capable of playing selections of music as MP3 files, streaming audio data sets, or the like. The success of operators of money operated amusement devices is generally proportional to the degree of distribution of the devices. Specifically, the greater the degree of distribution of the devices, the greater the overall revenue the operator can expect. Accordingly, money operated amusement devices are distributed over ever increasing, geographical areas.
This growing geographical spread of the distribution of money operated amusement devices presents operators with localization difficulties. Specifically, when service is needed at one of the devices, the service is often related to an issue that is difficult for non-technical staff at the device location to diagnose. Thus, with conventional systems, diagnosis of the issue is only possible when the operator is physically in front of the device, requiring the operator to travel to service the amusement device, and the trip is often distant and time consuming.
However, many of the service issues that arise could be resolved remotely if the amusement device were capable of being accessed and serviced remotely. While there is a class of issues and operations than can be managed using specific applications and protocols, not all issues can be predicted. Thus, it is desirable to provide the operator with the same experience as if in front of the amusement device with all of the amusement device functionality available, thereby reducing travel requirements.